Interview

06

Oct 13

Keep calm, finish matches: Karthik

MI’s wicketkeeper-bat reveals the mantra behind his success

While Dwayne Smith held the top order together and helped lay a solid foundation along with Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik guided the Mumbai Indians to victory with an unbeaten 33 to book a place in the Karbonn Smart Champions League Twenty20 final.

The wicketkeeper-batsman has been a important cog in the MI line-up and his 42-run partnership with captain Rohit Sharma helped avoid any further hiccups after losing a couple of quick wickets to Sunil Narine while chasing down a competitive target.

While speaking to clt20.com after the semi-final clash at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Karthik said “Trying and keeping a cool mind and staying as calm as possible,” is the key to his batting success and finishing games. After finishing the semi-final in style with a six, he is now looking forward for the final against the Rajasthan Royals. “All said and done they are a very good team and it is going to be a farewell game for two legends of cricket. So it’s going to be a good game for us,” he said with excitement.

Excerpts from his interview:

On the plan to negotiate Sunil Narine

He is the strike bowler for them and he looks to pick wickets and so the plan was to try and play him with a bit of caution. But at the same time it’s important to remain positive because it is not a format where you can take a lot of time. So that is what Rohit and I were trying to do.

On his role as a finisher

In this game they sent me in to bat at No.5 to finish the game off and I was happy I could do it for the team. It is important that whatever role the team gives you, you keep doing it as well as you can.

On how he has been working on being a finisher

I have done it a lot of times in the past as well. So for me, while batting, I don’t want to get too caught up in the positions where I bat. The key is to do well whenever I am given an opportunity.

On whether being behind the wickets helps read the track better

Obviously, when you are the ‘keeper you know the speed of the wicket, you know the areas and you know the how the wicket plays. So it gives you little bit of a heads up.

On batting with Rohit Sharma who smashed two sixes during is 22-ball 25 run knock

He is in great nick he and is batting very well. It was important that we put up a good partnership at that stage, and it is good that we came out well.

On the depth in MI’s batting that provides the team a cushion while setting targets or chasing them

We have quite a few all-rounders like Kieron Pollard, Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh), etc, who can chip in with the bat, and there’s also Coults (Nathan Coulter-Nile) and Rishi (Dhawan). We have got decent batting that way lower down the order; there are people who can bat and bowl, so that is good for us.

On who enjoys most – Rohit the batsman or Rohit the captain

At the end of the day when I bat with him, we are good friends and we get along well. We know each other and it is good bat with him. He understands me and I understand him. I don’t look at him as a batsman or a captain. He is a good friend and it is nice to put up partnerships with him.

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